An Essay in the History of Gold-Tooled
Bindings by Herbert P. Horne
London 1894
24
the intention of the binder. If a book is to be finished with little, or no, gilt tooling, a coarsely
grained leather may be used with effect; but to work very delicate and elaborate tools upon such
a surface is to strive against the virtue of these materials, and to lack that propriety, upon which
beauty, in Art, not slightly depends. The grain of a leather should, in brief, be chosen in regard
both to the size of the book, and to the degree of elaboration, with which it is intended to be
finished. If the grain is to be raised, this may be done by curling the leather with the hand, but if
it is to be reduced, the leather must be well rolled with a wooden rolling-pin; the flesh-side is,
then, to be pasted with thin paste, and the leather hung up to dry.
After the leather has dried, it is to be well pasted; and the book is to be accurately laid in its
place, upon it. That done, the leather is first to be drawn over the back; care being taken to give
a proper form to the bands: after which, the leather is laid down upon the boards; and what is
superfluous at their four angles cut away, that their edges and squares may next be covered.
This operation requires great nicety, especially in the manipulation of the leather at the
head-bands. The miters, at the inner angles of the boards, are made by folding the returns of
the leather, one upon another; and cutting through both thicknesses of leather with a sharp
knife, at an angle of 45 degrees to either edge. 'If the projection of the bands be very great, the
difficulty in covering a book is largely increased: and it is easier to lay down a smooth, than a
highly grained, leather; as its texture is apt to be damaged by an unskillful hand. A well-covered
book will have its edges sharp, its angles and miters accurate; and the leather equally drawn
over the boards, and well formed at the bands, and head-bands.
Not only morocco, but vellum and other leathers, should be laid down with paste. When vellum is
used, the boards should first be lined with white paper; or the vellum itself lined, which was the
custom of the early binders, to prevent the skin from contracting the boards.
If the book have a vellum end-paper, or a morocco joint, the outer end-paper is now to be
removed, and the vellum leaf, or the joint laid down upon either board, the latter being mitered
at its junction with the leather covering the squares of the boards. The panel, which is thus
formed on the inner side of either board, is next to be filled in with paper or silk, according to the
intention of the binder: but the sides and angles of the panel are first to be squared and
trimmed; and the paper or silk should be equal in its thickness to that of the surrounding leather.